I’m home already!
The internet was a little spotty in my quiet corner of the resort in Punta Cana and I didn’t have enough patience to wait for photographs to upload to Facebook so I do apologize for my absence… never mind here I am now, watching the snow beginning to fall and remembering the sunshine 🙂
That brings me back to last Saturday when icy rain started to fall as we were just about ready to push back from the gate, necessitating a pause for extensive de-icing.
A four and a half hour, two movie, flight above the clouds later we had left all that cold behind, and were coming in to land in a land of sunshine and warmth. It felt so good!
I was met by a driver holding a version of my name (!) who took care of my bags and got me to the Palm Dreams Resort, right on the beach. Time to unpack my suitcases and go for a quick walk before our welcome dinner.
I hadn’t got the white clothes memo but then I don’t think I would have been wanted in the family photos?
The sun was setting off to the west, behind one of the room blocks.
Remember this was a business trip. I was booked to teach at a Craftours Cocoon. Three teachers, a tour escort and 18 students, all ready for five days of learning and community together. Dinner and introductions made us all feel very welcome on the first evening and I retired for the night at a very reasonable hour.
I soon learnt that rain showers were going to be a common occurrence. They never lasted very long, didn’t affect the temperature and left everything clean and sparkly when they were over!
The resort was built around a series of swimming pools leading towards the beach. Tropical plantings made for very pleasant surroundings as I walked between buildings in the morning.
What with one thing and another I took lot of pictures while I was away so I’m going to split them into a few different themes, starting with the classes themselves.
Each day I had six students with very different levels of embroidery experience. We spent the day stitching and getting to know each other. Everyone gave it their full attention.
We’ll start with the first group. Unfortunately I forgot to get my camera out until one lady had gone back to her room… notice we split the twins up.
Each teacher gave a presentation in the evening after dinner. Pam Holland went first. Her inspiring slide show set the bar high for the rest of us.
Group two included a husband who refused to pick up a needle but took a picture of us all…
It was my turn to make the presentation. Ready to go…
Group Three included a mother and daughter team.
Every class was the same and yet different! Some people learned to thread a needle and make chain stitches. Others went home inspired to use their vast vocabulary of stitches in new ways. I’m looking forward to seeing some finished projects. I think some people are going to have a lot of embroidery in their futures… they bought lots of thread to take home!
Mark Sherman showed us one of his remarkable quilts and shared his quilting journey with us on the fourth night. This is the back of the very large and very heavy quilt.
Here’s a closeup of a butterfly appliquéd and bejeweled on the front.
Wow!
After three full days of classes teaching was over for the teachers… We went on an adventure together on the Wednesday while the students took a special class with a local artisan. That will have to wait until tomorrow 🙂
